November 24th, 2020
New home sales spike in county as people rethink space amid pandemic
Original article by Kristina Webb for The Palm Beach Post >
The first time Sasha and Ashton Hulscher visited the growing Arden development on Southern Boulevard west of Wellington, it was like a dream.
“It had everything we wanted,” Sasha Hulscher said.
But the couple had no intention of buying.
That changed about a year later during the coronavirus pandemic. At home with their children, the couple began looking at their surroundings — and realized they did want to move to the “agrihood,” which combines a suburban feel with wide open spaces and a working farm.
Now, like so many others in Palm Beach County, the Hulschurs have a new house under construction with builder Kenco in Arden, part of a larger trend during the pandemic as people finding themselves spending more time at home and re-evaluate their space.
Arden alone has seen a 41 percent increase in sales since the beginning of the pandemic, according to its developer, Freehold Communities.
Other new home communities in Palm Beach County are seeing similar increases, with builders including Minto and Pulte charting jumps, especially since the beginning of summer.
‘Stuck at home’
People spent more time at home since the beginning of the pandemic, especially from mid-March to about June, when many businesses were closed.
During that time, people looked around their spaces at what they had — and what they didn’t, Freehold Communities marketing director Susan Moguel said.
“When you’ve been stuck at home for so long … you feel very claustrophobic,” she said.
That has driven many from apartments, condominiums and more congested areas to Arden, built on a former sod farm near 20-Mile Bend with 15 miles of trails, two large lakes and a farm that provides residents with fresh produce, she said.
“People who come out to Arden, they’re coming because they’re looking for wide-open spaces,” Moguel said, adding, “We’ve been selling homes really at a record pace.”
